New recruits being trained to serve as frontline firefighters across Scotland

New recruits being trained to serve as frontline firefighters

Published:16:00Saturday 06 February 2016

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Thirty new recruits are being trained to serve as frontline firefighters protecting people and property throughout Scotland.

The 14 week course at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) National Training Centre in Cambuslang, near Glasgow, will see the trainee firefighters learn the life-saving skills they need to join crews across the country.

In highly realistic scenarios the future firefighters will tackle multi-vehicle crashes on a motorway as well as intense fires in terraced houses, tenement flats, multi-storey tower blocks and even on-board a ship.

Chief Officer Alasdair Hay said: “We promised to deliver new firefighters to bolster our crews across Scotland and this group will soon be on the frontline protecting the public.

“Our personnel operate in difficult and dangerous conditions, delivering an effective emergency response to serious incidents where people may be injured, trapped and urgently in need of rescue.

“After completing their course these new firefighters will be deployed where they are needed, joining highly-skilled crews and enhancing fire and rescue cover throughout Scotland.”

The trainee firefighters began the course after successfully progressing through a highly competitive recruitment process.

A packed schedule includes lectures and practical drills teaching them about the emergencies they are likely to experience, as well as how to operate at incidents and how to use the specialist equipment carried on SFRS appliances.

The trainees are the third group to undertake the foundation firefighter course since the inception of SFRS in April 2013.